


How to Prevent Your Boyfriend’s Art Projects from Killing Him

by CerealMonster



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 20:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6872848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CerealMonster/pseuds/CerealMonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donut is an art student who gets way too invested during project weeks. Tucker is a concerned boyfriend who just wants to spend the day alone with Donut, free of paint fumes and annoying friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How to Prevent Your Boyfriend’s Art Projects from Killing Him

**Author's Note:**

> [Read on Tumblr](http://cerealmonster15.tumblr.com/post/144461326217/how-to-prevent-your-boyfriends-art-projects-from)

“Hey,” Tucker’s voice called after a heavy pounding came from the other side of the door to Donut’s dorm, “you haven’t been answering your phone for like, two days. Are you dead in there?”

No response. Tucker knocked again, louder this time. “DONUT? ARE YOU IN THERE?”

Donut slowly rose from where he previously stood hunched over a half-painted canvas. “Oh, is someone there? Just a second!” He shouted back, jumping over a pile of scattered newspapers to grab his hearing aids off the nearby dresser. “Who is it?”

“Uh, your boyfriend coming to see why you’ve gone missing all weekend?”

A sheepish smile spread across Donut’s face as he positioned his second aid in his ear. “Oh, hey Tucker! Sorry about that. I’ve been so caught up on this _darn_ project that I haven’t been very…” Donut glanced at his discarded phone that lay under his bed with a dead battery, “…attentive to my phone lately.”

A sigh was heard from the hallway. “You’ve gotta stop getting so sucked into these projects, man.”

Donut pouted in response, but remembering his boyfriend couldn’t see through the wooden door, said: “Tucker, you’re not an art major! You don’t get good art by just throwing a few leisurely strokes onto the canvas.”

Tucker snorted. “Hah, try telling that to Grif. Anyway, open the fucking door; I haven’t had lunch yet and so I don’t wanna waste the last bit of my breakfast energy on busting out the _gun show_ just to break you out of there.”

It was Donut’s turn to sigh as he set down the oil pastel he had been using. He grabbed the cloth that had been hanging on the foot of his bed and wiped the bright red and orange splotches off his hands as he headed towards the door.

The man on the other side of the doorway gave Donut a flirtatious grin as he held out a pink carnation. “I stole this from Doc’s garden for you, babe.” He said with a wink.

Donut puffed out his cheeks, but accepted the offer regardless. “Stop poking around through poor Frank’s garden! You know he works hard on these,” he said, stroking the soft petals of the flower fondly.

Tucker took a look around the room. Newspapers stained with splotches of a variety of colors were scattered on the floor to protect the carpet from Donut’s various art projects. A large canvas lay on the ground, displaying what looked like a work-in-progress sunset view. A box of oil pastels sat next to it, open and half empty.  

“It reeks of paint in here. What the fuck have you been up to?”

Donut caught Tucker’s gaze and smiled. “Kai and I teamed up for this project; she took a bunch of these _beautiful_ photos-” he gestured to a box of photos sitting on the bed- “and I’ve been turning them into paintings!”

“That’s pretty impressive, dude. But, that doesn’t mean you can just shut yourself in like a hermit all weekend. You’re coming outside to get some fresh air like a normal human being and getting lunch with me.”

“But Tucker-” 

“Donut, you’re covered in paint and your room is kind of a mess. You need a damn break!”

Donut looked down at the paint and oil pastel splattered smock he was wearing and sighed. “It _would_ be nice to have a shower and rinse off all this sticky goo I’ve got all over me...”

"Bow chicka bow-”

“ _TUCKER._ ”

"Okay, okay. I’ll wait here if you wanna get cleaned up first, but if you need any help...” Tucker wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Mmm,” Donut fake-pondered. “Nah, not this time!” he giggled as he turned to head into the bathroom.

Tucker flopped down on a free spot on Donut’s bed. “Yeah, oka- wait, does that mean we can try it some other time? ...Donut?”

***

“Donuuut,” Tucker whined, “I’m _starving_. Are you done in there?”

The bathroom door cracked open, and out popped Donut with a bright fuchsia muscle tee tucked into a lace black skirt, his hair done up in a casual bun. “It takes time to look good, Tuck.”

Tucker glanced down at his own, plain aqua shirt and navy jeans and smirked. “Yeah, yeah, we can’t all look at great as you. Now let’s _go_ ,” he said, offering his arm out, which Donut graciously latched on to.

The couple had barely taken five steps past Donut’s room when a familiar face came bounding towards them.

“DONUT! IS THAT YOU?” Shouted Caboose, grinning widely as he clung to his pink haired friend. “I have not seen you for days! Church thought you were dead, but, um, I told him that was not possible, because you said you were too busy with your projects to die.”

Donut laughed as he released Tucker’s arm to return the enthusiastic hug. “Hey, Caboose! No, I’m not dead, just busy with a project.”

Tucker scoffed. “Yeah, but if I hadn’t have come in to save you, you _totally_ would’ve died from paint poisoning or something.”

Caboose, grabbing one of Donut’s hands, finally acknowledged Tucker’s presence. “Ah, well, thank you for your service to our country, Tucker.”

Tucker rolled his eyes and took hold of Donut’s other, free hand. “Yeah, I’m kind of a big hero, no big deal.”

Donut snorted.

Tucker frowned. “Anyway, Donut and I are on our way to get lunch, so-”

“OH,” Caboose gasped as he started to move forward, pulling Donut and Tucker along with him, “I love lunch! Church said he was going to go eat with Tex. We should-”

“-Go say hi?” Donut finished, and excited grin spreading across his face. 

Caboose beamed as the three of them headed outside, hand-in-hand. “Yes! Donut, you are so smart,” he praised, “you could really teach Tucker a thing or two.”

Tucker scowled as Donut stuck out his tongue at him.

“Move your asses, you two; I wanna get to the cafeteria before Church and Grif get the chance to eat everything in sight.”

***

“CHURCH!” Caboose called out the second he laid eyes on his scowling friend in the cafeteria.

“Wow,” Tucker muttered as he and Donut followed behind, “lucky we were able to spot you _way_ over in this back, hidden corner here, huh, Church?”

“Hey, Caboose. Fuck you, Tucker. Hi, Donut,” Church greeted.

Tex, sitting beside him, waved silently as she grabbed a french fry off his plate, earning a squawk from Church in protest. “You finish that bigass sunset yet?” She asked. “Kai was going on and on about it this morning at breakfast.”

“Not yet,” Donut pouted, yet again. “Someone decided it would be a good idea for me to take a break in the _middle_ of working!”

Tex rolled here eyes at the complaint and shot Tucker a grin. “Good for you for keeping this one alive.”

“Yeah,” Church added, “no one would wanna deal with Caboose’s heartbreak if Donut disappeared.” 

“You’d miss me, too!” Donut teased, earning him a sarcastic eyeroll.

Caboose sat down at the table to join Tex in stealing food off of Church’s plate, giving Tucker the perfect opening to plan his and Donut’s escape.

“Well,” Tucker started, wrapping an arm around Donut’s shoulders and scrunching up his nose at Church’s plate, “your lunch looks like shit, so if you’ll excuse us: Frankie and I are gonna go find some _real_ food.” With that, the two turned to leave, Donut waving behind them and Tucker ignoring the insults and rude gestures thrown at him by Church and Tex.

***

The walk to the nearby pizza place was short, and Tucker’s stomach was thankful. 

Even better? The restaurant was almost empty.

“Donut? Tucker? YO, OVER HERE!”

Almost.

Tucker and Donut’s heads snapped to face the back of the room, making eye contact with an excited Kai, jumping and waving them over to her and Doc’s table.

Tucker sighed as Donut pulled him by the hand to go join their friends. 

“Hey, guys!” Donut greeted cheerfully, sliding into the booth next to Doc as Tucker plopped down next to Kai. “What brings you here?”

“Uh, food? Doy.” Kai grinned at Donut’s offended pout.

Doc smiled and pushed a menu towards Donut and Tucker. “We haven’t ordered yet, if you’d like to join us.”

“Eh, sure, why not.” Tucker grabbed a menu and skimmed it for about three whole seconds before dropping it back down on the table. “Man, I don’t wanna read. Let’s just get pizza!”

Kai slammed her fists down on the table. “Fuck YEAH, PIZZA!” She paused and made a face, pointing a finger at Doc. “But, we’ll have to get separate pizzas if we want anything good. Veggie-boy over here doesn’t eat bacon.”

Tucker raised an eyebrow at this. “You’re a vegetarian?”

Now it was Doc who was pouting. “Yes! I’ve been a vegetarian for two years now!”

Donut giggled and lay his head on Doc’s shoulder. “As much as I normally _love_ taking in a good hunk of meat-”

His table mates exchanged looks with each other.

“-I haven’t had a lot to eat today, so I’m not really in the mood for anything too heavy.”

“It’s settled, then.” Tucker collected the menus in a stack at the end of the table. “Doc and Donut will have their weak-ass leaf pizza, and Kai and I will get something edible.”

Donut balled up his napkin and threw it at Tucker’s head in defense of his and Doc’s pizza preference.

Tucker couldn’t fight the fond grin that formed on his face as he watched his boyfriend laugh at some crazy story Kai started telling. Maybe he didn’t get to take Donut out for a private date today as planned, but as long as Donut wasn’t locked up in stressful isolation all day and was out enjoying himself, Tucker was happy,

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize 500 times for such a corny ending lmao  
> That end pizza bit was supposed to be just Tucker and Donut hanging with their BFFs but you could totally read it as a poly date lmao. I love them all together too so <3


End file.
